TNAG-0898-FCO40-1108-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 108

༔""

-

Covering CONFIDENTIAL

HICK 247/1

2 5 OCT 1972

179μA

HOME OFFICE

QUEEN ANNE'S GATE LONDON SW1H 9AT

NO

Mo i Pow

DF Murray Esq CMG

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Downing Street

London SW1

19 October 1979

See (.1797

Mr Malgreen

Jean Imald,

For wegent advice

plase.

22/x

I attach a copy of Hong Kong telegram No. 1454 of 18 October containing a message to me from the Governor.

I will see what I can do about his request for photographs.

I will certainly discuss with him the desirability of our maintaining a refugee selection officer in Hong Kong for the next few months. There are, however, difficulties about this. As you know, the selection so far has been done jointly by a Home Office official and Mrs Morley-Fletcher of BCAR. This has been useful not only because the two of them can bring separate experience to bear on the selection but because it directly involves BCAR in the selection of individuals whom they will be responsible for receiving and resettling. We intend to send out another man with Colin Birt on the next visit, which starts on 20 October, so as to spread the expertise, but our view is that Mrs Morley-Fletcher is probably the only person in BCAR competent for the work and she is also equally important at this end.

But as the next visit of our team follows so soon on the previous one (from memory, they only returned at the beginning of last month) some of the Governor's anxieties on this score may be lessened.

I shall be in a position to tell the Governor what we are doing to stiffen up the administration of the voluntary bodies particularly as regards resettlement, but I shall have to make it clear to him that much though we recognise and sympathise with his enormous problems, there are political and financial constraints at this end which if disregarded could put the programme at risk. I know from talks with him that he recognises this, but naturally these considerations cannot loom large when he contemplates the size and condition of the camps he has.

As it happens there is a possibility that in the month of October we shall achieve a rate of take higher even than his latest bid of 1,000, though I shall have to make it clear that he cannot expect us to keep this up.

Whmm

wom

ų

Minaj,

(P J WOODFIELD)